Boats! For all your fic writing needs...
You'd think I'd have got the hang of this by now, but I am incapable of remembering which boats were carried by different rates of ships and how many men were required to row them. I am sure that I have written numerous fics where I have sent two men off in a boat that requires a dozen oarsmen, and other times crammed a crew of thirty odd into a cutter :} So I was rather delighted to find this very helpful information board on the quay side at the Historic Dockyard right beside Victory. The board was rather weathered, but I've uploaded full size images so if you click through the text is still legible. Now you need never again worry about whether to send your protagonists off for shore leave in the barge or the cutter! Don't say I'm not good to you now ;)
PS In case you're wondering, jolly boats were the smallest type of boat carried, they were between 16 - 18 feet in length and rowed by 4 - 6 oarsmen. They were used for carrying people and goods to and from shore and for inspecting the ship. They may also have been used for carrying unconscious midshipmen.
PS In case you're wondering, jolly boats were the smallest type of boat carried, they were between 16 - 18 feet in length and rowed by 4 - 6 oarsmen. They were used for carrying people and goods to and from shore and for inspecting the ship. They may also have been used for carrying unconscious midshipmen.